Four AMES Australia staff have been selected to take part in the annual United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) consultations.
The four are: Jalal Ahmadzai, from the communications team based in Melbourne; Olivia Toma, from Employment and based in Melbourne; Aram Rafaat, from Settlement and based in Adelaide, and; Pau Lian Naulak, from Settlement and based in Adelaide.
The Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP), formerly known as the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR), is the most important multilateral forum for UNHCR, nations, NGOs, private sector representatives, academics and refugees to come together to discuss and advance resettlement policy.
AMES has been represented and has actively participated in the consultations over the past 15 years.
AMES Manager International and Community Development Dr Melika Sheikh-Eldin said the main focus of AMES' international work has been to share our experience in settlement and to learn from other international service providers.
“Another focus has been to enhance refugee self-representational and advocacy skills and to build the AMES Australia refugee voice at global refugee forums, NGO and/or ATCR consultations," Melika said.
To build on and strengthen our previous engagement and to address some of the challenges of resettlement, AMES Australia established an internal process for inviting applications from its refugee background staff to be sponsored to attend those forums.
Through this process AMES will continue its international engagement with the UNHCR, build staff capacity and ensure the voices of refugees are represented.
Through this process, staff members from refugee backgrounds have been selected, trained and mentored to participate in state, national and international forums.
Samia Mohamed represented AMES at the 2022 ATCR and Sayed Momtaz Shah in 2023.
“We wish all success for the newly selected representatives and they will be provided with the required training and support to fulfil those tasks as best as they can," Melika said.